Less Fishing Today, Got A Nice One After Steve Left

Isabelle and Haley

I didn't get to the lake today until 11:30AM or so.  All the girls caught fish this morning before I got there.  The panfish had pretty much scattered by then.  I did get 2 sunfish.  Steve and I went out for about 45 minutes before he and Kim left.  We spooked some fish, but didn't get a bite.  I went back out after 8PM and hooked a nice bass on a frog in the top of it's head.  The darndest thing.

17.75 Mad Maxx Sweet Revenge

Also had a small pike strike at Maxx. For about 10 minutes fish started hitting stuff all over in the large weed bed I was fishing.  I chased after one fish, but it wouldn't hit my lure.

Another So So Day Fishing With the Family

16" Sweet Revenge Mad Maxx

Girls mostly played in the water, less fishing today

It was a gorgeous day at the lake.  Mostly Sunny, in the 70's, and light winds.  The girls did a little fishing in the morning with everyone catching a sunfish.  I forgot my camera and once again having the Polaroid slipped my mind  Steve and I took an unproductive trip in the afternoon to the west.  Steve lost one little bass.  I managed to catch 4 sunfish and 1 crappie off the dock.  Steve and I went out after the cake for my parents 50th Anniversary was served.  We fished out and I was still totally clueless on where the pike were at.  I pulled the lug on that and went into the slop. I found a pod of fish tonight.  I missed one and had a pike break off my Spro.  Steve got 2 bass and missed 3 more hits.  He also had a pike break off a fluke and I lost a Tungsten Sinker when we were still out.

Fishing Was So So With The Family Today

My big with Dev, Mal, and Belle

Steve's Camera

Darn camera focus
22" Piranha w/ Grass Pig
In the Trophy with Steve

Darn focus this pumpkinseed was a beauty
Mallory and Devin

A picture actually in focus
Isabelle and Mallory

The slob I caught off the dock last night

I ended up with 2 sunfish and 2 pike missing my frog.  Isabelle caught a pike off of the dock while I was out with Steve.

Oh and when we pulled out the Trophy this morning it had a flat tire on the drivers side.  The stem was leaking.  We managed to get it to the Platte Lake access and Dad and Steve put the spare on back at the cabin.

Caught Me a Toad Off the Dock Tonight

19.9" LiveTarget Frog

8:30-9:15PM Dock, Jenny's, GOMH
Conditions: 70 degrees, light N wind, Mostly sunny

Caught a big girl off the dock tonight, 19.9".  I thought it was gonna be close to 21", because it's such a brute. I didn't bring the camera because I wasn't sure if I was going to get to fish tonight or not with the brothers coming tomorrow and work needing to be done.  I forgot I had the one on the selfie stick in the car in the tackle bag, duh.  But we have a submersible livewell that I put the fish in, so I will get pictures of it tomorrow and show it off to the nieces.

Had something hit me at Jenny's but not get the frog at Jenny's.  Nothing at the GOMH but skeeters.

Golden Bullhead at the GOMH This Morning

15.5" Jerk Shad Crackle

5:30-9:00AM GOMH NE, Slop Slip Lake Place
Conditions: 68-64 degrees, calm to light W wind, Mostly cloudy, Cloudy, some light rain, water up a little bit from last night. skeeters were terrible.

I had a fish nail the black Sexy Dawg not once but twice and not hook up either time.  Then I was throwing the jerk shad and caught a bullhead that didn't fight much.  I was surprised when it turned out to be a golden bullhead.

15.5" Jerk Shad

 I then missed a bite on the b/b Chigger Craw.  Felt like a good fish.

I didn't get anything on the SW side.

Didn't get anything off the dock.  I paddled West to start.  Had a small pike come out of the rice after the LiveTarget Frog. Missed another fish that boiled on the LT when I cast over a dock.  Threw the Whopper Plopper quite a bit without a single hit.  Had a couple of 20" plus pike come out of the water after the LiveTarget at the Beaver Point and not get it thankfully.  Not a single bass hit.  The wind came up and it started to rain so I headed in.

Post Storm Puzzled Until POW!

Unfortunately my best pics weren't in focus

7:45-9:15PM GOMH NE SW, Culvert, Bulldog, Jenny's
Conditions: 74-64 degrees, Light rain and sun pretty much post thunderstorm, Windy out of the SW diminishing, Water Level up a little higher

Not much going at the GOMH.  Had a little toothy hit the Jerk Shad on the SW side.  Tried the culvert, got nothing.  Back to the GOMH NE, nothing.  Went to Bulldog. Had something swirl on the LIveTarget Frog, but not get it.

I went to Jenny's and was just about to quit thinking I don't have a clue what the fish are up to right now when a bass smashed the LiveTarget Frog.

At least this picture is in focus

17?? LiveTarget Frog

 Hopefully that fish clued me in on where I can get some nice bass right now.

Morning at GOMH & Slop Slip/Evening Skunked at the GOMH

14.5" Chigger Craw b/b

5:30-8:30AM GOMH SW, Slop Slip at Lake Place
Conditions: 70-60 degrees, Light W wind, Mostly Sunny, Water Level as high as it's been.

The skeeters were out big time this morning at both the GOMH and the lake place.  Didn't get any hits on the NE side.   Got the 14.5" and had a 12 incher throw the Chigger Craw back at me.  I left for the Lake Place at 6:30.  Didn't get any bites off the dock.  Had a good fish miss the LiveTarget Frog off the Beaver Dam Point.  Had a small pike come out of the water after the LiveTarget as well, but much farther out.  That was it for action.  The bright sun was annoying.

8:15-9:15PM
Conditions: 80 degrees, Calm, Sunny

I had a pike bite off the Chigger Craw on the SW side.  Nothing on the NE side. Bah.  I know there were bullheads in the tunnel.  I heard them hit things a couple of times.  The water is to high for me to be able to cover much of the tunnel.

Not a Total Loss This Morning

5:30-7:30AM GOMH NE SE, Culvert, Inlet
Conditions: Low 70's, Wind W, Mostly Sunny

Ran through my baits.  Didn't get anything.  The weekend guy was there and got a few oranges on the NW side.  There were some younger guys that beat him to the SW side this morning.  I got a toothy out of the slop on the NE side on the LiveTarget Frog and also had something swirl at me close in.  The weekend guy got a big dogfish this weekend at the GOMH.

Nothing at the Culvert and Inlet

Good Trip, But Disappointment Reigns at the GOMH

16" Crazy Leg Chigger Craw b/b

3:45-4:45PM GOMH NE
Conditions:  74-71, Partly Cloudy to mostly Sunny, windy out of the SSW.  It had been raining pretty much until I got there.  I wish I would have arrived an hour earlier.

They didn't want topwater, didn't want Poison, did want a Chigger Craw.  I caught 3 on the black/blue Crazy Leg Chigger Craw.  Two of the fish including the 16" bit on it without any claws, plus I missed one.  Unfortunately the 16" got the hook deep, fought hard, and I couldn't get the hook out.  The fish wouldn't revive, so I kept it.  Highly disappointed in that fact.  I did catch one last 14" jumper on a pumpkin grn/fleck Chigger Craw.

13.5" b/b Chigger Craw, 1st Fish

14" b/b Chigger Craw, 2nd Fish

After the Storms at the GOMH This Morning

14.5" Chigger Craw b/b

7:00-8:30AM GOMH NE
Conditions: Got out late because of lightning this morning.  The lake level may still be rising as water was flowing into Platte and was a little bit higher than a couple of days ago.  We are in the midst of a hot stretch.  68-72 degrees, light SW wind, mostly cloudy turning partly cloudy.

I did have a fish bite at the Plopper but not get hooked up.  I threw the Jerk Shad into the bridge and got a nasty overrun that I was thankfully able to pull out before I left. I went to the Chigger Craw and got a 14.5" and 14" on it. I also lost what felt like a bigger fish.  Losing it put a crimp in my action.  I tried the SW side, the culvert, and the Inlet and didn't get anything in those places.

Morning GOMH & Fishing With Mallory Off the Dock

5:30-7:00AM GOMH NE SW

Beautiful morning.  Had a good 16-17" on the second cast with the Whopper Plopper that got off at my feet there in the rocks.  Missed another hit on Monkey Butt.  Lost one or two on a Chigger Chigger Craw, Missed two hits on the LiveTarget Frog, and lost one on the SW side on the Poison.

Spent from about 10:30AM to 6PM at the Lake Place with Mallory

Largemouth

It's a largemouth trust me.

Sunfish

Perch

Slop Slip @ Lake Place

15" LiveTarget Frog

8:00-9:30PM Slop Slip Lake Place
Conditions: 70's, Calm, Partly Cloudy

(Auto Focus no longer works right)

I got out for an hour and a half tonight in the Slop Slip.  I had 3 bites and landed 2 of them.

14" LiveTarget Frog

Bass Snatcher Fishhook Lake Tournament

A pod of about 8 Loons we came across

7:50AM-4:00PM Fishhook Lake
Conditions: 63-79degrees, Mostly sunny to partly cloudy to mostly cloudy, started calm then winds from 5 to 10 MPH out of the SW

Pre-tournament Thoughts:
I came into this tournament hoping for the best, but expecting it might be a difficult day.  My boater Art doesn't have a GPS and the Lakemaster Chip for mine just has generic contours of the lake that may or may not be accurate.  I didn't even think it was worth bothering putting in waypoints of spots to check out.  I did bring the GPS with though.

The Day:
We blasted off third and headed East to large point with a big weed flat.  I believe 5 other boats started on it.  I took that as an encouraging sign.   We were the closest boat in towards shore.   Dennis Lothspeich was in the closest boat to us and he had a pike break him off on his first cast.  My boater Art got a rock bass.  Herman who was in Dennis boat got himself a keeper largemouth.  I started out throwing topwater and didn't raise a thing.  I got a rock bass on the Piranha and had a pike follow in it as well.  Art got a couple more rock bass and pretty much everybody left the area after an hour and a half.  I had a pike break off my Texas rig and the wind started up.

We moved to the NW corner of the lake and I got a pike on the Pure Poison with Swim Fluke Jr. for a trailer.  We then moved in to try a few docks.  Very fishy looking water to me.  Between two of the docks there was a tree hanging over the water and I put a cast up right by shore.  Sure enough there was a good bass sitting there that took my Fluke and I hooked it.  It went 16", I wouldn't be getting a skunk for the day.  I was feeling pretty good about that.  We came up to some slop and reeds and I missed a hit on a LiveTarget Frog.  I wasn't looking at the lure when it hit.  I did get a good hookset, just don't think the fish had the frog.

We ended up going back to our starting spot.  We started catching rock bass and I had a pike break me off again.  I think I caught the next bass, a 14.25" keeper on a craw tube.  I didn't have my wits about me, as I didn't throw out a marker buoy I brought or think to put a waypoint in the GPS.  Art inexplicably decided to move us pretty much right after I caught the fish.  Art eventually did catch himself a keeper.  I didn't even cross my mind to throw the buoy or mark a waypoint.  We caught a few more rock bass.  Then we left and tried a couple other spots getting nothing.  With about an hour and a half left in the day we went back to the starting area again.  I quickly landed a 13.75" and a 14" keeper on the craw tube and Art landed his biggest fish and had one jump him off.  Once again I didn't think to throw the marker or put in a way point.  That was the last of our action other than a few more rock bass and a couple of bites that I missed.

Results:  My four fish weighed 7lbs 8ozs which put me in 16th Place out of 18 anglers.  Art's 2 fish weighed 3/11 and put him in 17th Place.  Keith Tuma won with a modest 16/10 and Lunker went to Tim Benson with a 5/2.

My Thoughts:  Who knows if I would have thrown out the marker buoy or marked where we caught fish on the GPS would have made a difference or not.  I just wish I had thought to do it.  Catching 1 more fish would have moved me up at least 2 more spots.  Other than the brain fart on the marker buoy and GPS, I thought I took advantage of what I was presented with.  The one suggestion I gave on where to fish didn't produce anything for us.  Getting bit by rock bass kept me from getting bored and I only lost two tungsten weight's to the pike.  The day could have gone far worse.  I'm just glad I caught anything.

Next Tournament:  Lake Pokegama (Grand Rapids) Aug 6th.        

Morning GOMH & Slop Slip, Evening off the Dock With The Girls

17" Poison w/Swim Fluke Jr.

8:00-11:00AM
Conditions: Water level still rising, 70-64 degrees, Mostly Sunny, calm to light NW wind

I got the nice jumper at the GOMH obviously.  I had a small toothy try for the Spro, and got this pike on the Slop Slip.

23" Poison w/Swim Fluke

I caught a small bass and a bigger bass while fishing off the dock in the evening.  Isabelle got a nice pumpkin seed.

15" Spro

GOMH Twice And Bulldog Once

I fished in the morning at the GOMH got 3 bullheads.  Went to the Dr. for my yearly check up then to Bulldog got 2 bass and back to the GOMH and got 3 more bullheads.  The water was still rising and it was a cloudy light rainy day.  I missed the first hit of the morning on the first cast of the morning on the Whopper Plopper.  Missed several hits in the morning and 1 in the later trip.  The fish wanted Big Sexy today in the trips after the Dr. appt.  I dropped the camera in the later trip at the GOMH pretty much screwing up the auto focus.

14.75" Jerk Shad

Not sure on this fish

17" Chigger Craw pumpkin/grn flk

16.5" Big Sexy

17.75" Big Sexy

High Water At The GOMH Is Here Now

17.5" Chigger Craw

SW Side of the GOMH, not quite to the base of the stairs 

5:30-7:00AM GOMH NE SW, Culvert, Inlet
Conditions: 68 degrees, Windy to very windy out of the SW, Mostly Sunny, Water is higher than normal and rising.

Well we finally got the high water I've been wanting the past two years.  It is probably to late this year to make much of a difference, but we'll see.  I did get two jumpin' bullheads.  The 17.5" after I had gone through my litany of baits and a 15" jumper on the white/red Pure Poison.  I went to the Culvert, nothing there.  This was the scene at the Inlet.  Flowing in to beat the band.

 Flowing to fast for any fish.  I went to Walmart.